Freescale finds washing machines more interesting than tablets

You would expect a NYSE-listed semiconductor company with net sales exceeding $4 billion to be interested in making chips for the growing tablet market, but Mr Henri Richard, Senior Vice-President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Freescale Semiconductor Inc, finds your refrigerator more lucrative than your smart phone.

Speaking to Business Line , he said, “Our company is looking at connected intelligence. We are looking at smart meters, washing machines, refrigerators and other devices that are still unconnected. These industries dwarf the PC, tablet and smartphone businesses in terms of units.”

Talking about connecting all these devices to the Internet, Mr Richard said that the legacy of Freescale — which was founded in 1949 and is one of the oldest semiconductor companies in the world — helps. “We are one of the names that an engineer thinks of when he starts a new design,” he said.

But this doesn't mean that Freescale is ignoring tablets and smartphones. Its i.MX508 processor is well known in the e-reader space and is used by E Ink's Pearl and Triton display platforms. But in the tablet space, Mr Richard said that Freescale is carefully selecting opportunities. “The reason is because this is an immature market. It is exciting but dangerous.”

He pointed out that the company had good design wins over the last two years. But one good thing about this industry, he said, was that it allowed smaller players in developing markets to compete with international names.

“Such small players usually survive only in a developing market by providing a cost-effective solution."

While India is not a significant contributor in terms of revenue to Freescale, Mr Richard said that this was going up because many Indian arms of Freescale's clients were getting more active.

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